DELL-icious Drama

Quick programming note: I will be off next week (week of July 1st). SKH will return Monday, July 8th.

Watch today's episode on YouTube or Listen to today's episode on the Stuff Keeps Happening podcast!

Dell Workers Said "lol k"

Hey stop making people go back to the office because nobody wants to, aight?

Dell is the most recent company to learn this, as about 50% of their employees gave them the finger after being given an ultimatum: "return to the office, or forfeit any notion of upwards momentum in the company."

It's really cool how nicely employers treat employees in America. Love how when you work for a company, they really have your backs.

Employees were told to opt in to being hybrid with at least 3 days in-office a week, or come back full time in the office. If they wanted to remain remote, they'd not be eligible for promotions, because that's how that works.

What's notable here is how clear of a choice it was for some employees, as well as how unnecessary of a measure it was in the eyes of others.

One Dell employee told Business Insider:

"My team is spread out around the world. Almost 90% of the team did the same as in our case there was no real advantage going to the office."

While others made it clear that the benefits of working from home outweigh the likely meager promotions they're passing on given the ultimatum.

Maybe Stop Colonization???

You should be aware of the ongoing unrest in New Caledonia in response to an attempt to expand the territory's electorate to include more non-indigenous residents.

New Caledonia remains under the control of France after it was colonized in the mid 1800's. Originally using it as a prison island (everyone has to have a prison island!), it eventually became a resource mining operation once they discovered significant reserves of nickel.

Of course, the island was not uninhabited. The indigenous people of the land were forced into reservations and refused access to the economy or nickel trade, relegating them to second class citizens in their own home. They suffered disease brought in from the settlers, and honestly, this should all sound familiar. This is what colonization does. Land stripped, culture annihilated, people obliterated.

In modern day, the indigenous Kanak people ostensibly have rights, though in the same way that any marginalized group has rights in what is otherwise a colony of an empire. Put simply, they're not quite satisfied with how things are, and now with the spark of further giving political power to Europeans, protests have broken out lead largely by the youth.

In response, France has sent their military, right-wing militias have set up sniper outposts, and some countries have begun trying to fly their own citizens out of the territory.

France is hoping to regain control, but as they have a lot going on with their recent elections, French president Macron has basically tried to just hit pause on… all of this, but that's not gonna work. Maybe, just maybe, stop colonizing shit.

For Whom the Tik Toks

TikTok, along with several creators on the platform, are suing the US government over the legislation that was passed a while back which effectively bans TikTok in the US. If nothing changes in a matter of months, TikTok may be forced to withdraw from operation in the US due to targeted legislation forcing the sale of the platform, which the owning company ByteDance says is a non-starter.

This legislation is already deeply unpopular, with only 31% of Americans in favor of banning the app. 30% is more or less the floor on any given issue in America. You'd be hard pressed to find an issue with less than 30% support.

The TikTok ban is also deeply short-sighted, putting millions of small businesses at risk of losing out on billions in sales, while removing a massively popular communications platform because "China Bad."

The lawsuit brought against the US is scathing, citing that congress basically shat this legislation out, which may not be too far off from reality. It cites the incredible speech restriction, as well as the fact that it is deeply targeted to TikTok, which doesn't address the purported concerns of holistic national security improvements.

To make things more interesting, TikTok also included previously unreleased internal documents showing just how far they were willing to work with the US government to avoid needing this legislation, including significant levels of offloading data management to US-based entities, and even a government-controlled "kill switch" to disable the app at the whim of the government. Given how sweeping the legislation is, combined with is deeply unpopular status and the fact that Congress basically ignored all proposals from TikTok, the lawsuit cites that this is—legally—some bullshit.

Two Old Men Yelling On A Stage

Alright, so the 27th of this month is going to have the first presidential debate. That may sound like its earlier than usual. That's because it is. I'm so sorry.

This debate is looking like it'll be at least interesting, as the rules that both Biden and Trump have agreed to include:

• No audience
• Mics cut off at the end of their time
• No pre-written notes allowed on stage
• No interacting with staff during breaks

So like, that's kinda nice I guess. A bit back towards what debates are supposed to be, rather than being a chance to try and get an audience to boo your target for the sake of viral clips. But also consider the following: it's Biden and Trump. Literally what could POSSIBLY be said in a debate between them that either hasn't already been said, or will have any actual meaning.

This 27th at 9pm US Eastern, if you feel like watching for the sake of it, go for it. But I strongly advise anyone reading this to categorize this under the umbrella of "noise."

Gaming News

• They're finally making a Zelda game starring Zelda
• The overhauled version of the D&D rulebooks are available for preorder, launching Sept 17
• Habbo Hotel is releasing a classic relaunch
• Nintendo dropped like 18 banger titles in their Nintendo Direct
• The Elden Ring DLC, Shadow of the Erdtree, is out for everyone now. Remember to drink water.

Here's the Weather

More Stuff

• YouTube is now experimenting with embedding ads directly into video files
• Adobe is being sued by the US over how hard it is to cancel a subscription
• One of those mysterious monoliths has popped up in the Nevada desert
  • Oh sike, its gone
• McDonald's was trying out an AI ordering system but dropped it after it started creating absurd orders
• A Secret Service agent for Biden got robbed
• Remember that stingray that was mysteriously pregnant? Seems the answer was less "divine intervention" and more "reproductive disease"
• Congress interviewed the CEO of Boeing, and among other things, family members of crash victims reamed him out
• It sure seems like satellite constellations like Starlink could negatively impact the Ozone layer
• Louisiana has passed a law that requires displaying the Ten Commandments in every public school classroom
• Congress passed a bill to increase investment in nuclear energy
• PornHub is blocking five more states due to an increase in legislatures passing invasive age verification laws
• Conservative billionaire Timothy Mellon donated $50 Million to the Trump campaign, and $20 million to RFK
• A cyber attack hit a company that supplies infrastructure to car dealerships, taking tens of thousands of dealerships offline
• According to NOAA, we should expect a rough hurricane season this year

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